


Barely Breathing

by WandaRavenBlack



Series: Bad Things Happen - Dick Grayson [2]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics), Nightwing (Comics)
Genre: Angry Jason Todd, Blood, Bombs, Explosions, Hurt Dick Grayson, Protective Damian Wayne, Protective Jason, Stabbing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-06
Updated: 2019-10-06
Packaged: 2020-11-26 09:35:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20928053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WandaRavenBlack/pseuds/WandaRavenBlack
Summary: COUGHING UP BLOODAfter Dick is stabbed, Damian has to make some difficult choices. With a bomb in the room next to them, and Batman nowhere near, how will the two brothers get out of there?





	Barely Breathing

“Robin! Duck!” 

Damian fell to the floor, rolled around and jumped up again. Meanwhile, Dick attacked the doctor with a ferocity, that was strange to see. Damian was going to help him, when the doctor suddenly managed to flip Nightwing around and put him in a chokehold. Before Damian could react, the man pushed a knife into Dick’s chest. Nightwing gasped and then gave a quiet shout. With a smirk, the man pulled the knife out and pushed Dick to the ground, running out of the room they were in. Damian hesitated for only a few seconds before he fell to the ground next to his brother. 

“Nightwing. Can you hear me?” 

Dick was curled up on the floor, gasping for air. Damian put his hand on his chest, only to draw it back quickly when he felt the moisture of blood. 

“Nightwing. Try taking shallow breaths.” 

Then he put his hand up to the comm and pressed on it to activate it. 

“Robin to Batman. We need backup. Nightwing has been stabbed.” 

Batman’s voice came through the comm seconds later. 

“What about the doctor?” 

“Gone.” 

There was silence for a few seconds, and then Bruce spoke up again. 

“Stay with Nightwing. I’m going after that doctor.” 

“But…” 

The comms shut off and Damian cursed. Of course his father would care more about some criminal than his own sons. He moved a bit closer to Dick and put a hand on his shoulder. Dick was shaking, visibly having trouble breathing. Still, when he noticed how close Damian was, he lifted his hand up and grabbed the hem of his cloak. 

“Bomb. Next… Room.” 

His voice was pained and way too airy, but Damian understood. Moving quickly, he unhooked his cape, scrunched it up and put it against Dick’s wound. 

“Hold it there. I’ll be right back.” 

Dick grunted in response, moving his hand so that it was pressing against the cape. Damian stood up quickly and ran into the other room. The bomb was set on a timer and there were only five minutes left on the clock. Touching it as carefully as possible, the boy tried to look for a way to defuse it, but couldn’t find any. With a groan, he glanced back to the other room. From where he was, he could see Dick shaking with pain on the floor, his breathing way too shallow. He tried to turn on his comm again, but it was still offline and he cursed. There was no way he could carry Dick out of the third floor that they were on. Moving quickly, he ran back to Dick’s side and crouched next to him. 

“I can’t defuse it.” 

Dick’s eyes widened, before he was sent into a coughing fit. Damian put his hand on his shoulder again. After a few seconds of wheezing, Dick finally managed to get a few words out. 

“Go. Leave… Me… Get… Out… Before…” 

And he started coughing again, tears forming in his eyes. Damian looked at him for a moment, before sitting down heavily on the floor. 

“I’m not leaving you, Richard.”

He decided to drop the alias. They were going to die in less than three minutes. It didn’t matter anymore if someone overheard them. Moving slowly, he put Dick’s head in his lap and gently stroked his hair. It was something he had seen a mother do to her child on the tv once and, when he had asked Dick what it meant, had learned that it was supposed to be a calming movement. It must’ve worked, because Dick’s eyes closed and he actually seemed to relax slightly. Damian frowned at himself. If his mother or grandfather had seen him, they would call him weak. Staying behind, where nothing but death waited for him, just so that another person didn’t have to be alone in his final moments. No. Not another person. His brother. His mind flashed to all those mornings in the mansion, when Dick would wake up first and make pancakes, the only thing the young man was capable of cooking without burning down the entire kitchen. Or the late nights when they were back from patrol and had too much adrenaline to fall asleep, so they would end up crashing on the couch and watching a movie, throwing popcorn at each other. And the mornings after when Alfred would berate them for the chips that had somehow ended up crushed inside the pillows and the popcorn they had managed to get stuck on the ceiling fan. He thought back to the training sessions, where he would teach Dick how to properly handle a sword, and the ones where Dick would take him up on the trapeze and show him tricks in the air. And he realized why he was so ready to stay here with him, even if it meant death. Because, against all the odds, Richard Grayson had become his closest family, even closer than his own father. And Damian would do anything for his family. Suddenly, he was pulled out of his thoughts by quick, heavy footsteps on the stairs. Was the doctor coming back? As gently as he could, he put Dick’s head back on the ground and pulled out his sword. No one would hurt his brother anymore. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw Red Hood bursting into the room, understanding immediately what had happened. Sometimes, Jason would hack their comms to make sure they were far away from his position when he met up with criminals. Usually, it pissed Damian off, because it meant more work for him and the others. Now, he was thankful. Jason rushed into the room and fell to his knees next to Dick. 

“Wing? Wing, can you hear me?” 

Dick’s eyes opened and he tried to say something, only to end up in a coughing fit again. Damian was worried when he saw blood coming up with every cough. He glanced behind him and paled when he saw the clock. It read 1:30. 

“Hood.” 

Jason looked up at him and he pointed into the other room. Seeing the bomb, Jason quickly put his arms under Dick’s legs and back, before turning his head to Damian. 

“Keep pressure on his wound.” 

Damian put his hands on the cape that had turned red where it was pressed against the wound and pressed down, at the same time that Jason stood up, lifting Dick. Damian was suddenly very happy for the fact that Jason was built like a tank and seemed to carry Dick without any bigger strain. They walked over to the window and Damian opened it quickly. Jason nodded down to his belt, where a grappling hook was attached. Understanding, Damian grabbed it and shot it at the roof of the house opposite. The hook grabbed the surface on the first try. 

“Good. Fasten it on my belt.” 

Damian followed the order and then Jason crouched down. 

“Get onto my back, and keep the pressure on his wound.” 

Quickly, the boy climbed onto his back and leaned around to push against Dick’s wound. Jason stood up and took a deep breath. 

“Here goes nothing.” 

And he jumped. As soon as they were in the air, he leaned his entire body back, so that he was flying horizontally and Dick’s body was resting on top of him. Damian found himself putting his legs around Jason’s waist to not fall off. Seconds later they crashed through the window, Jason’s boots literally pushing the entire window frame out, because of the speed they had gained. Damian let go of Jason and rolled to the side, seconds before Jason’s and Dick’s combined weight almost crushed him. They heard a scream and looked up to the young woman whose bedroom they had ended up in. Before anyone could say anything, the other house exploded. Moving on instinct, Damian grabbed the woman and pulled her to the floor behind the bed. As soon as the sound of crashing glass and flying stones stopped, he looked up to where Jason was covering as much of Dick’s body as he could with his own. Quickly, the boy stood up and rushed over to them. Jason sat up again and his smirk could be heard in his voice when he noticed that nothing had actually cut into his clothes. 

“I knew reinforcing the suit was a good idea.” 

Damian put his hands on the cape again and pressed down. The woman, still shocked by what was going on, stood up on shaky legs and gasped when she saw the three of them. 

“Robin? Nightwing?” 

Damian looked up at her and nodded. 

“Yes.” 

She walked over to them and gently pushed Damian’s hands away, only to replace them with her own. 

“Let me. I’m a nurse.” 

He nodded and looked up to Jason. 

“My comm is dead. Can you contact Batman?” 

Jason nodded and his angry voice could be heard seconds later. 

“I don’t care how far away you are. Get here now. Nightwing is really bad.” 

It didn’t even take a minute, before Batman dropped into the room through the opening that had once been a window. He hurried over to them and stopped in shock when he saw Dick, with his face white, except for the blood that he had coughed up. He glanced over to Jason and noticed that even he had blood on his chest, from where Dick had coughed into it. Moving quickly, he picked him up and walked over to the window. 

“I’m taking him to the cave. He’ll need surgery. Robin.” 

And he jumped out of the window. Seconds later, they heard a thump from where he landed. Jason pointed at the window. 

“Go with him. I’ll meet up with you in the cave.” 

Damian nodded, quickly fastened a line in the wall and then lowered himself to the ground, where Bruce was putting Dick into the backseat. He climbed in with him and put his hands on the wound again, while Bruce got into the driver’s seat and shot off. They arrived in the cave a few minutes later, the doors to the batmobile opening before they even came to full stop. Jason was there, with the mask still on. He picked Dick up and started running with him towards the surgery room, Alfred no doubt waiting there already. Damian got out of the car quickly and ran after them, but all he was met with was a closed door and a pacing Jason. A few seconds later, Bruce walked inside, only to get thrown to the ground by Jason’s unexpected punch. 

“You fucking asshole! Your sons needed you and you just left them! They would both have died if I hadn’t gotten there in time!” 

Then he seemed to calm down a bit, most of his anger disappearing with the punch. 

“I was surprised when you didn’t avenge me, but in the end I understood it. I was never as much of a son to you as you would have liked. But Dick has been loyal to you through everything. And you left him, when he needed you the most. You left him and your own biological son to die.” 

Then he sat down heavily and murmured: 

“If Dick dies, it will be your fault.” 

Without a word, Bruce picked himself up, turned around and left. Damian glanced over to Jason. He had had suspicions about Jason being stronger than Bruce and being able to beat him, but he had never really believed what his own brain was saying about that. But this was proof. He jumped slightly when Jason suddenly reached up and lifted his helmet off. His hair was sticking up in all possible directions, the white strip a stark contrast to the raven black rest. His eyes were tired, but on his face was a small smile. 

“You did good today, kid.” 

And that was when Damian suddenly realized that this was the first time Jason called him anything other than ‘Hell Spawn’, ‘Little Shit’ or ‘Demon Brat’. He sat down next to him and closed his eyes. Dick would be fine. He had to be. Ten minutes later, Bruce came back to the hallway and told them to go and change. Jason was ready to argue, but one look down to the blood on his chest made him stand up and march away. Damian followed him without a word. They came back 20 minutes later and sat down again, waiting in silence until Alfred finally opened the door. At once, all three stood up and moved closer to him. 

“Master Dick will be fine.” 

Damian let out a breath he didn’t even realize he was holding and Jason relaxed next to him. 

“He’s awake now and you can see him, but do not stress him.” 

The last words were aimed at Jason and Bruce. They all nodded and slowly walked into the room. Dick was white as a sheet, but his eyes were open and he was breathing more freely. 

“Hey.” 

His voice was raspy and still slightly breathy. Damian walked over to the bed first and sat down on the edge, before suddenly hugging Dick. 

“You idiot.” 

Dick smiled. In Damian’s speech, those two words could mean much, but now he knew what they meant. 

“I love you too, Little D.” 


End file.
